The Book of Prayer (Two Eids)

Ibn 'Abbas reported: I participated in the Fitr prayer with the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) and Abu Bakr, 'Umar and 'Uthman, and all of them observed this prayer before the Khutba, and then he (the Holy Prophet) delivered the sermon. Then the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) descended (from the pulpit) and I (perceive) as if I am seeing him as he is commanding people with his hand to sit down. He then made his way through their (assembly) till he came to the women. Bilal was with him. He then recited (this verse): O Prophet, when believing women come to thee giving thee a pledge that they will not associate aught with Allah" (lx. 12) till he finished (his address to) them and then said: Do you conform to it (what has been described in the verse)? Only one woman among them replied: Yes, Apostle of Allah, but none else replied. He (the narrator) said: It could not be ascertained who actually she was. He (the Holy Prophet) exhorted them to give alms. Bilal stretched his cloth and then said: Come forward with alms. Let my father and mother be taken as ransom for you. And they began to throw rings and ringlets in the cloth of Bilal.

Ibn 'Abbas reported: I bear testimony to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) offering prayer before Kbutba. He (after saying prayer) delivered the Kutba, and he found that the women could not hear it, so he came to them and exhorted them and preached them and commanded them to give alms, and Bilal had stretched his cloth and the women were throwing rings, earrings and other things. This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Ayyub with the same chain of transmitters.

Jabir b. 'Abdullah reported: The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) stood up on the day of 'Id al-Fitr and observed prayer. And he commenced the prayer before the sermon. He then delivered the sermon. When the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) had finished (the sermon) he came down from (the pulpit), and made his way to the women and exhorted them (to do good acts), and he was leaning on the hand of Bilal. Bilal had stretched his cloth in which women were throwing alms. I (one of the narrators) said to 'Ata' (the other narrator): It must be Zakat on the day of Fitr. He ('Ata') said: No. It was alms (which) they were giving on that occasion, and a woman gave her ring, and then others gave, and then others gave. I said to 'Ata': Is It right now for the Imam to come to the women when he has finished (his address to the men) that he should exhort them (to good deeds)? He said: (Why not) by my life, it is right for them (to do so). What is the matter with them that they do not do it now?

Jabir b. 'Abdullah reported: I observed prayer with the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) on the 'Id day. He commenced with prayer before the sermon without Adhan and Iqama. He then stood up leaning on Bilal, and he commanded (them) to be on guard (against evil for the sake of) Allah, and he exhorted (them) on obedience to Him, and he preached to the people and admonished them. He then walked on till he came to the women and preached to them and admonished them, and asked them to give alms, for most of them are the fuel for Hell. A woman having a dark spot on the cheek stood up and said: Why is it so, Messenger of Allah? He said: For you grumble often and show ingratitude to your spouse. And then they began to give alms out of their ornaments such as their earrings and rings which they threw on to the cloth of Bilal.

Ibn 'Abbas and Jaibir b. 'Abdullah al-Ansari reported: There was no Adhan on the (occasion) of Id-ul-Fitr and Id-ul-Adha. I (Ibn Juraij) said: I asked him after some time about it. He ('Ata', one of the narrators) said: Jabir b. 'Abdullah al-Ansari told me: There is neither any Adhan on Id-ul-Fitr when the Imam comes out, nor even after his coming out; their is neither lqama nor call nor anything of the sort of calling on that day and nor Iqama.

'Ata' reported that Ibn 'Abbas sent (him) to Ibn Zubair at the commencement of the oath of allegiance to him (for Caliphate saying): As there is no Adhan on 'Id-ul-Fitr, so you should not pronounce it. Ibn Zubair did not pronounce Adhan on that day. He (Ibn 'Abbas) also sent him (with this message) that sermon (is to be delivered) after the prayer, and thus it was done. So lbn Zubair observed prayer before Khutba.

Jabir b. Samura said: I prayed with the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) prayers on two I'ds wore than once or twice without there being Adhan and Iqama.

Ibn 'Umar reported that the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him), Abu Bakr and 'Umar used to observe the two 'Id prayers before the sermon.

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) used to go out on the day of Adha and on the day of Fitr and commenced the prayer. And after having observed his prayer and pronounced the salutation, he stood up facing people as they were seated at their places of worship. And if he intended to send out an army he made mention of it to the people, and if he intended any other thing besides it, he commanded them (to do that). He used to say (to the people): Give alms, give alms, give alms, and the majority that gave alms was of women. He then returned and this (practice) remained (in vogue) till Marwan b. al- Hakam (came into power). I went out hand in hand with Marwan till we came to the place of worship and there Kathir b. Salt had built a pulpit of clay and brick. Marwan began to tug me with his hand as though he were pulling me towards the pulpit, while I was pulling him towards the prayer. When I saw him doing that I said: What has happened to the practice of beginning with prayer? He said: No, Abu Sa'id, what you are familiar with has been abandoned. I thereupon said (three times and went back): By no means, by Him in Whose hand my life is, you are not doing anything better than what I am familiar with.

Umm 'Atiyya said: He (the Apostle of Allah) commanded us that we should take out unmarried women and purdah-observing ladies for 'Id prayers, and he commanded the menstruating women to remain away from the place of worship of the Muslims.

Umm Atiyya reported: We were commanded to bring out on old days purdah-observing ladies and those unmarried, and menstruating women came out but remained behind people and pronounced takbir (Allah-o-Akbar) along with them.

Umm 'Atiyya reported: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) commanded us to bring out on'Id-ul-Fitr and 'Id-ul-Adha young women, menstruating women and purdah-observing ladies, menstruating women kept back from prayer, but participated in goodness and supplication of the Muslims. I said: Messenger of Allah, one of us does not have an outer garment (to cover her face and body). He said: Let her sister cover her with her outer garment.

Ibn 'Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) went out on the day of Adha or Fitr and observed two rak'ahs, and did not observe prayer (at that place) before and after that. He then came to the women along with Bilal and commanded them to give alms and the women began to give their rings and necklaces. This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Shu'ba with the same chain of transmitters.

'Abdullah b. 'Umar reported that (his father) 'Umar b. Khattab asked Abu Waqid al-Laithi what the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) used to recite on 'Id-ul-Adha and 'Id-ul-Fitr. He said: He used to recite in them:" Qaf. By the Glorious Qur'an" (Surah 1)," The Hour drew near, and the moon was rent asunder" (Surah liv.).

'Utba reported that his father Waqid al-Laithi said: 'Umar b. Khattab asked me what the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) recited on 'Id day. I said:" The Hour drew near" and Qaf. By the Glorious Qur'an".

'A'isha reported: Abu Bakr came to see me and I had two girls with me from among the girls of the Ansar and they were singing what the Ansar recited to one another at the Battle of Bu'ath. They were not, however, singing girls. Upon this Abu Bakr said: What I (the playing of) this wind instrument of Satan in the house of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) and this too on 'Id day? Upon this the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Abu Bakr, every people have a festival and it is our festival (so let them play on).

This hadith has been narrated by Hisham with the same chain of transmitters, but there the words are: " Two girls were playing upon a tambourine."

'A'isha reported that Abu Bakr came to her and there were with her two girls on Adha days who were singing and beating the tambourine and the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) had wrapped himself with his mantle. Abu Bakr scolded them. The Messenger of Allah (may peace he upon him) uncovered (his face) and said: Abu Bakr, leave them alone for these are the days of 'Id. And 'A'isha said: I recapitulate to my mind the fact that once the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) screened me with his mantle and I saw the sports of the Abyssinians, and I was only a girl, and so you can well imagine how a girl of tender age is fond of watching the sport.

'A'isha reported: BY Allah, I remember the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) standing on the door of my apartment screening me with his mantle enabling me to see the sport of the Abyssinians as they played with their daggers in the mosque of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upom him). He (the Holy Prophet) kept standing for my sake till I was satiated and then I went back; and thus you can well imagine how long a girl tender of age who is fond of sports (could have watched it).

'A'isha reported: The Messenger of Allah (way peace be upon him) came (in my apartment) while there were two girls with me singing the song of the Battle of Bu'ath. He lay down on the bed and turned away his face. Then came Abu Bakr and he scolded me and said: Oh! this musical instrument of the devil in the house of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him)! The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) turned towards him and said: Leave them alone. And when he (the Holy Prophet) became unattentive, I hinted them and they went out, and it was the day of 'Id and negroes were playing with shields and speare. (I do not remember) whether I asked the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) or whether he said to me if I desired to see (that sport). I said: Yes. I stood behind him with his face parallel to my face, and he said: O Banu Arfada, be busy (in your sports) till I was satiated. He said (to me): Is that enough? I said: Yes. Upon this he asked me to go.

'A'isha reported that some Abyssinians came and gave a demonstration of armed fight on the 'Id day in the mosque. The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) invited me (to see that fight). I placed my head on his shoulder and began to see their sport till it was I who turned away from watching them.

This hadith has been narrated by Hisham with the same chain of transmitters but (the narrators) did not make mention of the mosque.

'A'isha said that she sent a message to the players (of this armed fight) saying: I like to see them (fighting). She further said: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) stood up and I stood at the door (behind him) and saw (this fight) between his ears and his shoulders they played in the mosque. 'Ata' (one of the narra- tors) said: Were they persians or Abyssinians? Ibn 'Atiq told me they were Abyssinians.

Abu Huraira reported: While the Abyssinians were busy playing with their arms in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) 'Umar b. Khattab came there. He bent down to take up pebbles to throw at them (in order to make them go off). The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said to him: 'Umar, leave them alone.